The president of the Popular Party (PP), Mariano Rajoy, reiterated this Monday in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria his criticism of the Canarian Coalition (CC) for being "much more" concerned with "saving the face" of the Spanish Government's president, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, than with the interests of the Canary Islands.
Rajoy, who accused the nationalists of "supporting" Zapatero and "giving him the votes" he needs in Congress "in negative circumstances for the interests of the Canarians and the Spanish", also stated that the two CC deputies for Santa Cruz de Tenerife "have not lived up to expectations".
In his opinion, "the PP deputies from Teruel or Pontevedra" have defended the Canary Islands "with much more intensity" than those from CC, so, he said, the role of this formation during this legislature "will be studied in history books" because it has been "truly anthological".
Regarding his commitments to the Canary Islands, Rajoy stated that he is aware of the "singularities" of the Islands and that he will address them if he governs because "when there are situations of inequality, they must be treated unequally".
All of this, during a rally held in the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium of the capital of Gran Canaria, together with the president of the PP and candidate of that party for the presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Manuel Soria, to whom Rajoy predicted "a great future" as long as "the people of Gran Canaria and I are still here", and the also 'popular' candidates for the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Juan José Cardona and José Miguel Bravo de Laguna, respectively.
Seven ministries and half of the official cars
The president of the PP and candidate of that party for the Parliament of the Canary Islands, José Manuel Soria, stated for his part that his formation has "the recipe" to return "hope and illusion" to society and pledged that, if he governs, he will not have a "clearer and more resounding objective" than to ensure that "in the Canary Islands, whoever wants to work can have a job".
After assuring that the function of a government is not to create employment, but to promote the conditions for this to be possible, Soria announced that if he has the opportunity to form a cabinet after 22-M, it will have a maximum of seven ministries, in "congruence" with the demands made to families and companies to "tighten their belts".
This, he said, will allow the Government of the Canary Islands to be "more effective" and dedicate more money to what for the leader of the Canarian 'populares' should be their priority: health, education and dependency.
Finally, Soria promised that if he governs, he will not only not raise taxes, but will end "superfluous expenses", such as official cars, which he will reduce by half.
In that sense, he recalled that his party "always" opposed raising taxes on consumption, even in the Canary Islands, despite the opposition that existed "from within the Government", in reference to his former partners of the Canarian Coalition (CC).
"Overwhelmed"
All the participants in the rally held this Monday in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria said they felt "overwhelmed" and "grateful" for the amount of public attending, part of which could not access the venue.
A total of 1,900 people filled the main hall of the capital's auditorium and another 400 had to be accommodated in an adjoining one, according to the organizers, who nevertheless acknowledged that there were people who finally did not access the venue.
"It is the first time in 30 years that we have had to kick people out of a PP rally," acknowledged Mariano Rajoy himself, who apologized for what happened.
Soria, Cardona and Bravo de Laguna also did so, who warned that "just as we have overwhelmed this auditorium" on May 22, "we are going to overwhelm the polls with our votes".
EM-ACN